The Mooi River ( af, Mooirivier) is a river in

North West The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...

Province,

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. It is a tributary of the

Vaal River The Vaal River ( ; Khoemana: ) is the largest tributary of the Orange River in South Africa. The river has its source near Breyten in Mpumalanga province, east of Johannesburg and about north of Ermelo and only about from the Indian Ocean. ...

and belongs to the Upper Vaal Water Management Area.

Course

The Mooi rises near Koster and flows southwards. During its course it flows into the Klerkskraal Dam,

Boskop Dam Boskop Dam is an earth-fill type dam on the Mooi River, near Potchefstroom, North West Province, South Africa. It was constructed in 1959. The main purpose of the dam is for irrigation and domestic usage. Its hazard potential is ranked as high, du ...

and the Potchefstroom Dam. After crossing the town of

Potchefstroom Potchefstroom (, colloquially known as Potch) is an academic city in the North West Province of South Africa. It hosts the Potchefstroom Campus of the North-West University. Potchefstroom is on the Mooi Rivier (Afrikaans for "pretty river" ...

it bends southwestwards, shortly bending westwards before it empties into the

near the border with the Free State, about 15 km east of

Stilfontein Stilfontein (Afrikaans for ''quiet spring'') is a former mining town which is located on the N12 (National Road) with 17,942 inhabitants, situated between Klerksdorp and Potchefstroom in North West Province (South Africa), North West Province of S ...

. Its main tributaries are the Wonderfonteinspruit (Mooirivierloop) and the Loop Spruit. The waters of the Mooi River and its reservoirs are polluted with

heavy metals upright=1.2, Crystals of osmium, a heavy metal nearly twice as dense as lead">lead.html" ;"title="osmium, a heavy metal nearly twice as dense as lead">osmium, a heavy metal nearly twice as dense as lead Heavy metals are generally defined as ...

in its mid and lower course because of the large

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

and

uranium Uranium is a chemical element with the symbol U and atomic number 92. It is a silvery-grey metal in the actinide series of the periodic table. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons. Uranium is weak ...

mining operations in the basin.

History

In November 1838

Voortrekker The Great Trek ( af, Die Groot Trek; nl, De Grote Trek) was a Northward migration of Dutch-speaking settlers who travelled by wagon trains from the Cape Colony into the interior of modern South Africa from 1836 onwards, seeking to live beyon ...

leader

Andries Hendrik Potgieter Andries Hendrik Potgieter, known as Hendrik Potgieter (19 December 1792 – 16 December 1852) was a Voortrekker leader and the last known Champion of the Potgieter family. He served as the first head of state of Potchefstroom from 1840 and 1845 ...

and his followers established the first permanent European settlement north of the Vaal by the banks of the Mooi River, founding the town of

. The city was named in Potgieter's honor and was the capital of the former

South African Republic The South African Republic ( nl, Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek, abbreviated ZAR; af, Suid-Afrikaanse Republiek), also known as the Transvaal Republic, was an independent Boer Republic in Southern Africa which existed from 1852 to 1902, when it ...

until May 1860, when the capital moved to

Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends ...

.About Potchefstroom - History
/ref> The river and its main tributary the Wonderfonteinspruit were named by early settlers and owe their names to the abundance of karst springs that were found along their banks. Most popular ones include Klerkskraal eyes (still active) Bovenste Oog (still active), Oog van Gerhard Minnebron (still active), Boskop eye (status unknown), Turffontein eyes (still active), Oog van Wonderfonteinspruit (dry), Oberholzer Oog (dry), Bank eyes (dry) and Venterspos eye (dry). Of these springs only Klerkskraal eye (which comprises one permanent spring and several perennial springs), Bovenste Oog and Oog van Gerhard Minnebron still flow. The status of Boskop eye is unknown as the area was flooded when Boskop dam was built making it very difficult to locate and observe. The dry springs were a result of dewatering the aquifers that fed the eyes to make way for gold mining in the Far West Rand.

Tributaries

There are 3 primary tributaries all joining from the east they are Wonderfonteinspruit, Loopspruit and Rooikraalspruit. There are several perennial streams and drainage canals along the banks. Notable rivers and streams in the Mooi Rivers watershed include Wonderfonteinspruit, Loopspruit, Rooikraalspruit, Enselspruit, Taaiboschspruit, Leeuspruit, Tweeloopiespruit, Mooirivierloop and Spekspruit.

Fauna

Fish

Fish species found in the river include Small mouth Yellowfish (''

Labeobarbus aeneus The smallmouth yellowfish (''Labeobarbus aeneus'') is a species of ray-finned fish in the genus ''Labeobarbus''. It has become an invasive species in rivers of the Eastern Cape, South Africa, such as the Mbhashe River. Introduction The Orange-V ...

''), Orange River Mudfish ('' Labeo capensis''), Moggel ('' Labeo umbratus''), Sharptooth Catfish (''

Clarias gariepinus ''Clarias gariepinus'' or African sharptooth catfish is a species of catfish of the family Clariidae, the airbreathing catfishes. Distribution They are found throughout Africa and the Middle East, and live in freshwater lakes, rivers, and sw ...

''), Banded Tilapia (''

Tilapia sparrmanii ''Tilapia sparrmanii'', the banded tilapia, or vlei kurper, is a widespread and adaptable cichlid fish that is found in warmer freshwater habitats of southern Africa. They prefer water with ample plant cover, and occur naturally as far north as D ...

''), Southern Mouthbrooder (''

Pseudocrenilabrus philander ''Pseudocrenilabrus philander'' or the southern mouth-brooder is a small species of haplochromine cichlid found in southern and central Africa. It was first described by the German-Dutch zoologist Max Carl Wilhelm Weber in 1897. Distribution Sou ...

''), Three spot Barb ('' Enteromius trimaculatus)'' , Chubbyhead Barb ''(

Enteromius anoplus The chubbyhead barb (''Enteromius anoplus'') is a species of freshwater ray-finned fish in the genus ''Enteromius''. The fish is found throughout South Africa in a variety of aquatic environments. The species is notable for its two breeding season ...

)'', Straight-fin Barb ''( Enteromius paludinosus)'', Western Mosquitofish ''(

Gambusia affinis The western Mosquitofish (''Gambusia affinis'') is a North American freshwater fish, also known commonly, if ambiguously, as simply Mosquitofish or by its generic name, ''Gambusia'', or by the common name gambezi. Its sister species, the easte ...

)'', Common Carp ''(

Cyprinus carpio The Eurasian carp or European carp (''Cyprinus carpio''), widely known as the common carp, is a widespread freshwater fish of eutrophic waters in lakes and large rivers in Europe and Asia.Fishbase''Cyprinus carpio'' Linnaeus, 1758/ref>Arkive The ...

)'', Smallmouth Bass ('' Micropterus dolomieu)'', Swordtail ''(

Xiphophorus hellerii ''Xiphophorus'' is a genus of euryhaline and freshwater fishes in the family Poeciliidae of order Cyprinodontiformes, native to Mexico and northern Central America. The many ''Xiphophorus'' species are all known as platyfish (or platies) and ...

)'', Largemouth Bass ''(

Micropterus salmoides The largemouth bass (''Micropterus salmoides'') is a carnivorous freshwater gamefish in the Centrarchidae ( sunfish) family, a species of black bass native to the eastern and central United States, southeastern Canada and northern Mexico, but ...

)'', Grass Carp ''(

Ctenopharyngodon idella The grass carp (''Ctenopharyngodon idella'') is a species of large herbivorous freshwater fish in the family Cyprinidae, native to the Pacific Far East, with a native range stretching from northern Vietnam to the Amur River on the Sino-Russian ...

)'', Rock Catfish ''(

Austroglanis sclateri The rock-catfish, ''Austroglanis sclateri'', is a species of catfish in the family Austroglanididae. This freshwater fish is endemic to the Vaal River in South Africa. It is also found in Lesotho and Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Re ...

)'', Canary Kurper ''

Chetia flaviventris ''Chetia'' is a genus of haplochromine cichlids endemic to riverine habitats in southern Africa, as well as the Congo River Basin. Species There are currently six recognized species in this genus: * '' Chetia brevicauda'' I. R. Bills & Olaf, 20 ...

)''. No known sightings of the Largemouth Yellowfish ''(

Labeobarbus kimberleyensis The largemouth yellowfish or Vaal-Orange largemouth yellowfish (''Labeobarbus kimberleyensis'') is a ray-finned fish species in the family Cyprinidae. This large freshwater barb is found in southern Africa.Impson & Swarz (2007) It has long bee ...

)'' have been recorded in the last 40 years in the upper and middle Mooi River or its tributaries but there's a strong possibility that they do occur in the river close to its mouth on the Vaal river. Mozambique Tilapia (''

Oreochromis mossambicus ''Oreochromis'' is a large genus of oreochromine cichlids, fishes endemic to Africa and the Middle East. A few species from this genus have been introduced far outside their native range and are important in aquaculture. Many others have ver ...

''), Redbreast Tilapia (''

Coptodon rendalli The redbreast tilapia (''Coptodon rendalli'') is a species of fish in the family Cichlidae. It is found widely in the southern half of Africa. Its natural habitats are freshwater lakes and freshwater marshes. It is known as the redbreast kurper ...

''), Blue (Israeli) Tilapia (''

Oreochromis aureus The blue tilapia (''Oreochromis aureus'') is a species of tilapia, a fish in the family Cichlidae. Native to Northern and Western Africa, and the Middle East, through introductions it is now also established elsewhere, including parts of the U ...

'') and Nile Tilapia (''

Oreochromis niloticus The Nile tilapia (''Oreochromis niloticus'') is a species of tilapia, a cichlid fish native to the northern half of Africa and the Levante area, including Land of Israel, Israel, and Lebanon. Numerous Introduced species, introduced populations ex ...

'') occur in the Wonderfonteinspruit up to where it disappears into the ground, but there are no known samples from the Mooi River itself.

Birds

The river and its surroundings harbour a rich bird population of over 250 recorded species including African Fish Eagle, Martial Eagle, Ostrich, Secretarybird, Greater and Lesser Flamingo, Grey Hornbill, Meyers Parrot, Kori Bustard, Giant Eagle Owl to name a few.

Dams in the basin

The main dams in the Mooi River and its tributaries are Donaldson Dam, Klipdrift Dam, Klerkskraal Dam,

and Potchefstroom Dam

References

External links

Mooi River Forum
{{Authority control Vaal River Rivers of North West (South African province)